


Unplanned Secrets

by vsulli



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: F/M, Unplanned Pregnancy, a lot of crying, mama ghafa x2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2018-03-09
Packaged: 2019-03-29 01:17:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13916262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vsulli/pseuds/vsulli
Summary: Inej comes back from one of her trips with an unexpected guest, and her mother.





	Unplanned Secrets

The night before she left was a memory that Kaz would hold on to for years and years. He’d given her everything, and she did the same. It was the longest, yet the shortest night he’d ever spent with her laying by his side. Long, because the minutes felt like hours but short because there just wasn’t enough time. There never was enough time when it came to Inej, she always seemed to be leaving just as she had arrived. The last night she had spent with him was one night he’d wished went on forever and forever, wishing he’d had the chance to repeat everything over and over. 

That night was nearly three months ago, and as he waited for her on the dock, he felt restless with every second longer. She’d never taken this long to leave her ship before, she always paid the crew extra for staying back to clean up, so she wouldn’t have to. But as Kaz watched crewman after crewman step off the ship, the urge to step on got stronger and stronger. What if something was wrong? 

Then he saw her, beautiful as ever in her hastily worn Captains uniform.  He stood from the crates he sat on, wincing only slightly as he put weight onto his leg after almost an hour. He left his cane leaning against where he sat because just as he stood, Inej ran down the gangplank and he only had half a second to open his arms when she barreled into him. Despite his leg, he managed not to fall when she hit him, only swaying slightly before he wrapped his arms around her.

“Inej?”

Her disembarkation was usually a slower affair, with her still doing last minute checks as she stepped down from her ship. She’d usually walk to Kaz, her smile getting larger and larger before she finally moved up to her toes to wrap her arms around him. This was all too hurried, and much to rough for someone like Inej. She said nothing, only holding him tighter as she nuzzled into his chest. 

“Kaz,” the voice forced him to look up from the girl in his arms, and what he found was someone he never thought he’d see again in Ketterdam. 

“Misses Ghafa?” Something was wrong, it was the only explanation if Inej’s mother had come back with her. Their first few visits to the city had them realizing how much they preferred their own home, making Inej promise she’d be the one visiting them after their last time. Her mother would need a reason to be here now, and their delayed, and then unexpected reunion was proving it to be an unhappy one. 

He heard Inej sniffle and without even asking, he held her tighter against him, one of his hands rubbing her back as the other pressed against the back of her head. He looked at her mother in question, but all her got in return was a frown.

“We all have explaining to do, Kaz,” Mrs. Ghafa said, “first Inej needs to eat.” 

Pressing a kiss to the top of her head, Kaz finally pulled away from Inej, raising his hands to wipe away her tears when she finally looked up at him. 

“Sorry,” she whispered, “I’m so sorry, Kaz.” 

Mrs. Ghafa spoke to Wylan and Jesper as they ate, and Kaz watched Inej. Wylan had his cooks make her favourite dishes, something they’d been doing since she started her task. However, now she picked at the contents of her plate as if it were torture just to look at them. When she did eat something, she ate the bits that he knew she didn’t like, the jams and the toppings that she always passed over when preparing her plate. There was something else about her that had changed, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. 

“Thank you for the dinner, Wylan, but it’s getting late,” Mrs. Ghafa said, finally making Kaz look away from Inej. He watched her stand and smile at everyone at the table, but he noticed a falter when her eyes met her daughter. He said nothing as she walked over to her, she whispered something and kissed her forehead but Kaz couldn’t hear what she said. “Good night, everyone.” They said their chorus of goodbyes and waited for her to leave the room before resuming their conversations. 

“Kaz, drink?”

“Just one.”

“Inej?”

She shook her head, giving Jesper a small smile as she waved off the bottle he was about to hand her. Kaz took his but didn’t take a drink, instead setting it down on the table in front of him. Inej never was much of a drinker, but she always had at least one when she returned, it was always enough to have her enjoying herself with Jesper and Wylan. Looking over at them now, he could tell that even they knew something was wrong and the hadn’t even known about her crying earlier. 

“I think I’m going to take a bath and head to bed, the trip took longer than expected,” she said softly before standing. Kaz stood too, both out of worry and of habit, but he didn’t follow, Inej putting a hand up to stop him before he could. “Have fun, Kaz, come up after your drinks.” 

The three of them watched her walk off, her feet dragging slightly on the tiled floor but her lack of care could have easily been because of fatigue. Jesper sighed once she was out of the room, downing half his drink once he did.

“What’s wrong with her?” The question was directed at Kaz, but Kaz couldn’t answer, he just shrugged. 

“Her mother said they had some explaining to do, but they didn’t say anything the entire way back here.”

“Maybe something happened on the ship? She was gone longer than she said she would be. Was all her crew there when they docked?”

“All of them, I think.” 

“Maybe her da?” 

“Misses Ghafa said he was having fun teaching their twin grandchildren their first tricks, I think he’s fine.” 

“What about-”

“I don’t know, I don’t know what’s wrong.” The admission seemed to be enough to quiet their questions, but Kaz could see something working in Wylan’s mind. He had the same look whenever he was trying to figure out their own tricks, it was his planning face and Kaz wanted to know what he was thinking. “What is it?”

“Nothing, it’s stupid,” he said, but the frown on his face told Kaz something different. His eyes narrowed and Wylan shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense, Kaz, you and Inej aren’t,” he made a motion with his hands and Kaz rolled his eyes, “it’s stupid.” 

“Fine.” He stood then, ignoring his untouched bottle and only offering a quiet goodnight as he left the dining room. 

When he reached Inej’s room he didn’t knock before walking in, and he was glad he didn’t. She was halfway through pulling her nightgown on and Kaz froze at the sight.

“It’s rude not to knock, Kaz,” Inej said, smiling at him for the first time since she’d arrived. Her hair was wet from her bath, falling in long stringy waves down her back and shoulders, and since she was planning on going to sleep, she wore just her nightgown which only just past her knees. It large against her small frame and if the circumstances were different, he’d have allowed himself the time to admire it.  

“Inej,” he started, stepping into the room, he shut the door behind him, resting his cane against it before turning back around to face her. “Inej what aren’t you telling me?” 

“Nothing, Kaz,” she assured him, but he was having a hard time believing her. Removing his jacket and shoes, he walked over to the bed and sat down, pulling Inej to stand between his legs once he did. She looked younger like this, a version of herself that no one else got to see. Years, they’d been doing this for years and he’d never seen her guard a secret from him like this. She told him everything, they both took off their armour for each other, secrets were part of that armour and Inej would need more than a good reason to put some of it back on. 

“Why is your mother here then?”

“She wanted to see the city.”

“She doesn’t like the city.” 

Kaz watched her draw her lip between her teeth and shut her eyes, a small tear escaped her eye and he wiped it away as fast as it came. She never opened her eyes, or turned away from him as more tears fell. Sighing, he took her hands in his, bringing them up to the sides of his own face, a reminder. 

“Inej, look at me,” she opened her eyes, “it’s me, you can tell me anything, remember? No secrets.” 

“You won’t like this secret,” she whispered, “you didn’t plan for this secret. You plan for everything, and you coudn’t-” she let out a sob and Kaz was quick to pull her down to him, she sat on his lap as Kaz let her cry into his shoulder. 

Resting his cheek against her head, he rocked back and forth, whispering quietly to her, assuring her that he could take anything she was willing to give him. He felt his heart breaking with every shaking breath she let out, wanted to cry with her when she clutched his collar in her fist, and wanted her to just smile at him one more time when she buried her face deeper into him. 

“There are a lot of things I don’t plan for, Inej,” he said when he heard her start to quiet, “I didn’t plan for Jesper, but I gained the best marksman I could possibly have because I adapted and allowed him into my gang, and because of that, I now have a best friend, and that was something I never could have possibly planned for.” He felt her laugh, even if no sound came with it. “I didn’t plan for Nina, and but without her we wouldn’t have gained the tradition of waffles after every job.” This time he could hear her laugh and he smiled. “Definitely didn’t plan for Wylan, and look at the house we’re sitting in now that we know him.”

“It’s a big house.”

“Very big,” he agreed. “But my favourite thing that I couldn’t have planned for? A girl, willing to do anything to prove herself, the greatest woman I have ever known, someone I could finally say that I love. Before I met you, never thought I would love someone, I thought it was something I couldn’t possibly have. You were completely unplanned, but here you are, and I couldn’t be happier.” 

She said nothing this time, but he felt her shift to rest her head on top of his shoulder to finally look up at him. However, just as he was about to lean down to kiss her, her felt her hand on top of his, and she was moving it. 

“What is it?” 

She was moving it to a place he would never have thought, it wasn’t possible. His other hand bunched the fabric of her nightgown into his fist, not wanting to look at where she had placed his hand. He shut his eyes and let out a long breath through his mouth.

“What about this? You didn’t plan for this,” she said, “things you don’t plan for, people you don’t plan for, always work in your favour? What about this one?” 

He wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He wanted to pick Inej up and spin her around the room. 

“Inej,” he trailed off, he ran his hand down to where her grown was bunched up on her thighs and slid his hand underneath to her stomach. Wanting to feel it without the obstruction the thick cloth created. He felt it then. The smallest of bumps that he knew was not there before she left all those months ago. He felt his cheeks get wet and he finally kissed her. “This is one thing I planned not to have,” he admitted, “but after you, after years of being in love with you, I started realizing I want to spend every moment with you. I wanted for you to have everything I could give, I needed a way to show you how much I love you but I never could. No grand gesture would ever encompass the amount of love I felt for you. I always planned on finding a way to show you, and I guess this was it.” 

“I thought you wouldn’t-”

“Never, Inej, you shouldn’t have apologized for this,” he was crying, and laughing, and he turned Inej to properly wrap her in a much needed hug. “I love you, Inej, and I already love whatever it is inside of you.” 

“Mama says it’s a girl.”

“And I’ll love and protect that little girl with everything I have.” 

 


End file.
